Junction Pt. 01

Jace set his swords on the counter, "You do weapon upgrades?"

He nodded, "Swords because of the crystals we can do. We have guns as well for those who are licensed."

He set his bow down as well. The man sighed, "What are you wanting?"

Jace looked at him, "Something that has the option of punching a hole through 10cm of solid titanium armor, yet is 'street legal' without a corporate sponsor."

Bill Ross laughed, "We have something that would do 5cm but we would have to replace both swords, these models would not hold it. You could hit the impact mark twice and get through 10cm if needed.

Your bow would support that upgrade, including the solid ammunition option. It would give you another 30 meters in range as well. Nice bow by the way. Excellent enchantments for ammunition as well I see."

---

Commander Triviliana had added the ammunition storage enchantments to his bow after their first mission. Plasma bow Quivers actually attached to the bows to fill them up as they went, but it was a risk if the ammo got shot while attached. A Plasma Bow held 100 shots normally. Jace's was upgraded to magically store 1,000 shots.

Thus they would be stored most often until needed. Jace sniped 2 men that had came in behind Commander Triviliana and saved his life, He took off their head with two shots into each one's armored head. That had cemented their friendship as he knew Jace would have his back. Jace was his go-to sniper from that mission forward...until he wasn't.

---

Jace nodded and pulled out all of the vamp units, he pulled from the 12 men and all but one of the bio-monitors to keep as a spare. All of those vamp units were 10-50 Ki units and he could not use them legally without a corporate sponsor. He had another chip in a case; it was not a bio-monitor but worked with one. The man looked at that one, "That is not even on the market yet!"

Jace nodded, "I know that. Due out in 3 months from this tech manufacturer. That is why I am not trading it in. I brought in 12 bounties in 12 hours. With that, I could potentially double that."

The man nodded, "A tech chip that will let you see through people and concrete walls even. X-ray vision if you will. The two swords and the upgrade on the bow, including trade-ins means I owe you 40 DC's."

Jace nodded and pulled out the bounties storage units, "Take it from 12 units down to 3 and you can have the other 7 smaller units and the 40DC's. Put the remainder in that 1,000Ki unit. We will call it even."

That would leave him with 2 empty 2,000 Ki units. The man took the units over 2 at a time and consolidated all of the Ki. He came back and shook his head, "That is a lot of Ki."

Jace looked at Bill when he set the 2 new swords on the counter, "You will forget about how much Ki I have, that is part of the deal."

The technician finished the bow upgrade. Jace checked and scanned each weapon for any trackers or unauthorized modifications. They were clean. The new swords had silver plasma blades. He liked the color but they were brighter than his standard-issue blades.

They would do more damage and impact heavy armor, or vehicle doors. Things he would need going forward. The big bonus was his bow upgrade as he preferred to use that weapon. The solid ammo option would remove the light effect if he needed stealth shots.

Bil Ross nodded, "I expected at much about this whole transaction. When you picked up these bounties did you pick up additional weapons as well?"

Jace smiled, "A couple."

He set 12 plasma and laser pistols on the counter he did not intend to keep. Just some of the ones he was willing to part with. "I will trade them all for a 350 series or better Judge pistol and 3 cases of ammunition for it."

Some were the newest models and 2 of those had not been fired yet. The thing with a Judge was it had greater range, shot plasma, solid plasma, and had a separate barrel for laser shots underneath the main barrel. It was also nearly uncontrollable without the right body enhancements for the plasma shots. It had an extreme recoil to it which cut down on its popularity on the streets. Even using it with 2 hands.

The tech figured Jace knew what he had asked for, given his file and the scan he ran. The technician looked at Jace, "What are you going to do for the power for the laser on that weapon? I have a selection of batteries."

Jace sighed, "I already have that covered."

Bill chuckled and brought him a brand-new Judge pistol 450 series. He looked at Jace, "No 350's in stock; not much call for them short of swat teams asking for them. Normally a special order item but I got a couple of the 450 series in the other day on consignment from the manufacturer. He will be happy to hear that one sold this fast. Some who are into organized crime might look at it if they are amped up enough to handle the weapon.

I read your enhancements with my bio-monitor. I know you can handle it. This has an even greater range and better battery life. Backward compatible with most batteries. Will also knock a hole in a cinder block if you use the solid plasma at a short to medium range. The big boost was medium-range going through cinderblocks on the 450 as it increased overall range."

Jace nodded, "Alright."

The man set down 3 cases of ammunition. Jace pulled the gun from the box and examined it thoroughly. Then he noticed the tracker in the box in the gun's battery slot. He opened it and set it on the counter. Jace shook his head, "You can keep the tracker and I will check those ammo boxes as well."

The man unpacked it for him and then repacked it. He looked up, "That was a manufacture tracker, not something I did. They gave them to me on consignment. It was sealed into the box in case it was reported stolen."

Jace nodded. Jace pulled out the gun case and cleaning supplies that came with it. Then the new holster and checked everything out. He left the boxes behind. He looked at him, "I ran diagnostics on all of the weapons and weapon upgrades. I am inclined to believe you on the tracker. You have been fair with me. I checked your reputation weeks ago, while I was still in the service. Now 10,000 rounds of plasma arrow ammo."

The man ran into the back and brought it out. Jace reloaded his empty quiver to 5,000 units and installed 845 rounds into his bow as it could hold 1,000 now and he had to reload after his civilian mission. The rest he stored in his duffle bag which had an enchanted expanded carry capacity. He put the gun case with the cleaning supplies in the bag.

He pointed at the cred chits, "Merge them all please." He nodded and looked over as he handed them back on 3 chits, "63,877 DC's. 25,000 DC's chip. That is a lot of DC's."

Jace nodded, "All in a day's work. You can keep the blanks if you need them. Same rules as the Ki on what I have on me."

Bill nodded. Jace pulled out the battery he was going to use and Bill whistled at him as he installed the battery into the gun, "Extended cell battery with a kinetic recharger. That should last a very long time. Also, not on the market yet. You took down some bounties with corporate sponsors to find some of this."

Jace loaded up the ammunition clip and looked over, "6 more clips as well. You are correct. Another reason not to mention my being here, to keep those sponsors away from your doors."

Bill came back and set 12 on the counter still in the boxes. "Given your predication to weapons and your career choice, I figured I would see if you want more."

Bill, brought back various ammo holders as well. Jace shook his head and chuckled. He activated his armor after loading up the clips he wanted and slid them into their slots on his armor. He did take 2 extra after backing up his armor into the necklace. He loaded those and added a leg strap for ammo on that for the 2 new clips.

Jace looked at him, "I empty 2 clips, I slap in the third, and if I have not put my battle armor on by then I will be. If anyone asks if I bought any implant upgrades you tell them no. Do not expand upon that because I traded gear for that upgrade instead of buying it. I traded enough gear to cover 30,000 DC's.

I will know if you forget that, but it will be known soon enough. You can mention all the weapons I traded to you, but nothing about the extra Ki units or DC's I have. Just that I sold you a bunch of empty ones. I doubt she would slink out of her hole to ask you directly, but just in case. You can mention weapon upgrades including the Judge sidearm and the upgrades to my swords and bow. Those will be noticeable when I start using them. It was a big transaction after all and it took time."

Jace paid for the clips and leg holder with gold he collected. Bill nodded, "I understand the underlying threat, and not just from you but corporate sponsors to this other nameless person who is monitoring you. Thank you for not installing that in here.

If you got people monitoring you like you think you do, I don't want the heat. There are a few places to get that done, including places that will install them. Not that you would have to have it installed by others given the processor you are using. Personally, I like the new designs."

Jace nodded, "Not all are in the city either. Get me the security disc for this transaction." The man left and came back, "A new one is in place, this had a motion sensor camera so this information is everything."

Jace scanned the data on the disk to ensure it was authentic. He pulled out one of his blades and melted it down to nothing. Right in front of the camera. He wrote out a message, 'Stop spying on me. You have work to do, SYLVIA.'

He held that up and then handed the pad back to Bill. "Anyone asks, especially her, for the surveillance you tell them what I did and show them this vid clip if they ask for it. Give them a list of the gear I bought, but not the implant just yet. I want to surprise her when she loses contact with me tomorrow. She won't know if I got it from a bounty or here. In the long run, it makes no difference. But it will go easier on you."

Bill chuckled as Jace picked up his black bag with guns and ammo in it and walked out of the store. He still had an arsenal in the bag.

He scanned his vehicle and walked to the back and pulled the tracker. He traced it to a van parked 10 meters away. He threw it hard enough to smash their windshield with it and it was impaled into the glass. He got in his vehicle and left.

He sighed, "Phantom corp. Yet another arms manufacturer and they hire and farm out mercenaries."

He activated his comms and sent a message to Sylvia over the weave, "Phantom Corp took an interest in me. They tried a tracker on my vehicle. I sent it back through there windshield."

She sent a message back, "You have or had 4 corporations making inquiries on you. You were in that store for a long time."

He smiled, "New judge pistol, more powerful plasma swords, a few cases of ammunition, and traded off a lot of stuff from those 12 bounties for it so I did not waste too many DC's in my efforts.

I had a nice collection of pistols but I wanted the Judge, feels good to have one on my hip again. It is even a more powerful and newer model. Now that they do not consider it a military-grade weapon. Only those with the right enhancements can handle one.

You made those stronger as part of our departure deal. Now you know why I wanted them. Also, a leg holster with a couple of extra clips. I am going clothes shopping next if you must know. I might stop and take a shit along the way if you want to monitor that closely."

The muscle generator was over halfway through and should be enough by now to handle the Judge one-handed. He had a feeling he would need those muscles.

She sighed, "You stirred up a lot of shit with powerful high-ranking people. Some are not listening; some would not listen to me regardless. Phantom Corp. is one of them. They might listen to some of the others I sent messages too instead. I tried that route. Watch your back."

---

She sent a message to the store asking for the video footage of Jace. Bill chuckled and sent her the file and the list of weapons and ammo upgrades he bought. The vid file was extremely short as she watched him destroy the surveillance disk and flashed her the message.

She chuckled, "Alright, he knew I would be checking. He likely picked up more but he is keeping me in the dark on some of it, at least for now." She sighed as she had nothing on this shopkeeper. One of the few honest businesses in the city. Jace probably searched that out before going to that shop. She let it go for now.

---

Bill got contacted by 4 big corporations, some of whom supplied him. He forwarded them what he sent Sylvia so they all knew she had inquired after him as well. Bill chuckled, "Jace definitely pissed off some powerful people." He looked at her name and a quick search told him what he suspected, "CGR."

---

Jace went to a large mall with lots of security cameras and a covered parking garage. He parked on the third floor across from the elevator. He got into the elevator as he saw the surveillance van come up the ramp as the doors closed. He hit the button to stop on every floor going up. He got off on the fifth floor and went to the clothing department.

He found a western-style hat he liked a leather duster that fitted him. It was loose enough that he could call his armor on under it if needed. He went over and paid for those quickly. He went to the camping section.

He bought a second empty quiver, a fold-out cooking stand, and a portable smoker. He purchased all of that while he was there. He got the receipt to pick up the bigger items down at the dock section. That would fill his second seat in the Corvin to capacity as he checked the dimensions.

He stopped in the bathroom and loaded up the second quiver in one of the stalls. He hoped to buy more clothes if he had the time. He came out as a large man rounded the corner. Jace had his Judge pistol in hand before the man could reach for a hidden weapon. Jace had run him through the facial recognition database and found 3 wanted posters for him in other cities before drawing his gun.

One had a 30,000DC bounty on him. The search continued on him. Jace shook his head, "I am placing you under arrest. I have several bounty posters on you. Dead or alive. You can try and go for that gun. Realize this one is set to solid ammo and will punch holes through you with no armor. Why are you following me?"

The man refused to speak. Jace shrugged and shot him in the chest. A judge was nowhere near silent. Especially in a restroom. He packed up his duster and hat in the bag, and carried his other stuff in his off-hand and kept his gun out. He summoned his armor on. He did not want to damage his new purchases before getting out of the store.

He picked up the body and put it over his shoulder after disarming him. He kept the man's weapons and put them into his bag on top; including a pair of Cobra sidearms. Brand spanking new and from his buddies at Phantom Corporation.

The man had another 120Ki on him and his body was using it to regenerate. He had 10 minutes before he would have to shoot him again. The bounty lost 85 Ki from that shot because of the range and no armor. The cinder block behind him took up the rest of that shot. Jace put it through his lower right lung to ensure the man's heart was still beating.

He walked out of the room and security started showing up. He threw up the wanted poster image to a monitor on his left and Bounty hunter status on the right monitors. He looked at the security guards, "I doubt this man traveled alone."

He flipped him around to show the positive ID on the suspect. He looked across. "Now would you escort me out of your mall. I paid for my purchases in each department."

The head security guard arrived, "Police are on their way."

Jace nodded, "Then we should meet them out front. Don't you think?" The man froze. As Jace continued. "You ran my ID from when I entered this floor's security gate. You called Phantom Corp because of the wanted poster, Guard Waters. They told you to try and detain me. Your computer security in this mall is pathetic, especially your communications. Get out of my way before I go over your head.

Your sonic pop guns and taser units will not work against this military-grade armor. For the rest of you, he did not call the cops on this. He is a corporate stooge of the Phantom Corporation and maybe others. I do not want to hurt you, but I will if I have too."

The man moved out of the way and his officers parted. Jace holstered his weapon after they did that. He had his 6 o'clock camera in view when he swung a gun around from a back holster and fired, just as Jace turned so the man shot his bounty for him in the side of the head.

Jace looked back and pulled his judge as the next shot bounced off of his armored arm and took a couple of Ki with it. Jace hit him with a shot from the Judge right in the face. Blowing a hole through it and dented the bathroom door beyond.

That left him, Mall Guard Captain Waters, with 10 Ki. Not enough to heal the man without help but he had him dead to rights shooting a gun at him and recorded the exchange. Besides, it was a headshot and even if it would have healed, he would have been effectively braindead. Like the bounty over his shoulder now.

---

Sylvia contacted the Minister of Defense, "Jace is out and hunting. He has his 13th bounty over his shoulder. He has been hunting today and is now being hunted. He killed a mall cop who pulled a gun on him and shot him in the face.

I would recommend getting someone not corrupted in your police departed to the Angles Mall, parking garage, level 3. I would recommend Commander Cooper, State Marshal Service, Retired Army General. He would be an excellent man to understand Jace and aid him in this transition."

The Minister of Defense sighed, "What is going on with all of these bounties? I helped him to get his license but what is his plan here? Why are monitoring him?"

She smiled, "He took out 12 earlier and inquires have been flying about him since then, All on Jace Rivers. He settled on the last name as you are probably already aware of by helping him get that license. I sent messages warning them to stay away from him. Some refused to listen."

The minister nodded, "He did that weeks ago when we spoke and I signed his application. I had not heard he captured 12 until the news and now he has a 13th one in hand. He seems to be in a hurry to raise money and I want to know why."

The minister ended the call. He hated the ice bitch for his own reasons. She failed to answer why she was monitoring him. He had to kill a couple of her spies in his office every couple of months.

Sylvia stood in her office and thought, "Marshal Cooper, one daughter unknowingly to him dead and the other out of the service just 6 months. Jace would find her to his liking."

She needed to get him under control and fast. She wanted the children they might produce together. He thought she would help to anchor him to keep him from running, she was concerned with the money he was accumulating this fast.

She did not have an active spy in the Minister's office as the last one was sent to her home in 74 refrigerated boxes. She refrigerated them to eat later; which she did. With her level of dragon blood, she could eat just about anyone and often did.

As to Marshal Cooper's daughter, her parents had modified her DNA to ensure she ended up in the Mage corps unit of the army. She was more invested in enchanting by the time she finished her tour.

Sylvia got Jace the last set of armor she enchanted in case she needed to go this route at some point. Part of her settlement with him was getting him the latest and newest spec Ops armor, in his unit colors on her bill. new armor. It might serve as a conversation starter for him with her even.